Border Patrol Makes Huge Pot Bust

TRUTH or CONSEQUENCES, New Mexico – U.S. Border Patrol Agents seized $500,000 in marijuana Monday and arrested one man attempting to sneak contraband past a traffic checkpoint in New Mexico.

U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the checkpoint on Highway 26 near T or C, New Mexico, apprehended a U.S. citizen for possession of narcotics after he approached the inspection area. Agents noted the driver displayed unusual mannerisms as they began to question the driver. They also detected inconsistencies in the information he provided and referred him to secondary inspection. At that point, a non-intrusive K-9 inspection alerted agents to the possible presence of contraband in the 2000 Ford pick-up being driven by the subject. Further inspection of the truck revealed bundles wrapped in brown packing tape hidden in a false compartment of the cab, and under an altered truck bed. Once the narcotics were extracted from the vehicle, the subject and the narcotics were turned over to the Doña Ana Metro Narcotics Task Force. The vehicle was seized by U.S. Border Patrol.

Later the same day, U.S. Border Patrol agents working in Deming, New Mexico, discovered footprints leading from the border and traveling north in the darkness. Agents on ATV’s began tracking the subjects with the assistance of agents using truck mounted infrared cameras. They were able to locate two persons and a total of 90 pounds of marijuana they were transporting. The subjects were arrested and the narcotics were transported to the Deming station. The investigation into that case is continuing today.